Grant My Wish
by tawnyeyes10
Summary: Cloud has only one wish and the more he contemplates the reasons why he wishes, the more he finds himself hoping his wish is granted. When everything ended in fire and pain, Cloud needs this on last thing. Seph/Cloud if you squint. Fluff-ish.


_Grant My Wish_

Disclaimer: I don't own the song Airplanes or Final Fantasy or anything else that is related to those subjects.

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**Can we pretend that airplanes,  
In the night sky  
Are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now (**_**wish right now, wish right now**_**)**

Cloud wished on the lights of a plane above.

**Can we pretend that airplanes,  
In the night sky  
Are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now (**_**wish right now, wish right now**_**)**

Cloud wished on the twinkles of the stars above. Always wishing, always waiting, always waking up the next day to find himself in the same situation as the day before.

**Yeah.  
I could use a dream or a genie or a wish,  
To go back to a place much simpler than this.  
'Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin',  
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion  
And all the pandemonium and all the madness,  
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness**

Cloud relived it each night: from beginning to end, start to finish, sunset to sunrise. The moment where he lost everything that he lived for. The memories were so clear; that every night he was convinced that he had been sent back in time, just so he could change it. But each time – after the fire that claimed all he loved burst into life across his vision – he woke; heart contorted with pain and mind on the brink of insanity. His life had been good. He had been a hero. His friends had been by his side. Watching over him. But fate hadn't been satisfied.

**And when you're staring at that phone in your lap,  
And you hoping but them people never call you back.**

He remembered the way he had once never answered his phone calls, yet every time he had heard one of their voices he had given a sigh of relief. He could only imagine how terrible it had been for them, to hear the voicemail tone once again, not knowing if this time there was no point leaving one. They all knew that, even if he didn't answer, he still heard their messages, but one day he might not. He might not be able to.

**But that's just how the story unfolds.  
You get another hand soon after you fold.  
And when your plans unravel,  
And they sayin' what would you wish for  
If you had one chance.**

But it wasn't him they should worry for, it never had been – never should have been. He had never deserved their friendship – their help – their… love. Any of them, even the ones gone by the time that he began to come undone, and those who came back, but only as a pale twisted imitation of who they had once been.

But wasn't that the way a hero's story was created? By deaths, betrayals and bonds forged through the worst of times. Well if that was so, Cloud wouldn't choose to be a hero, if only to keep the ones he loved – still loved and ached to see once more. But even when everything is happily ever after, things still go wrong. A hero's story never ends. Cloud did have a wish, one thing that the planet could still grant him.

**Can we pretend that airplanes,**  
**In the night sky,**  
**Are like shooting stars?**

Cloud remembered the end so well. Where he had been abandoned because he hadn't been with them. Now he'll die alone with; the image of falling stars and fire playing forever in his mind.

**I could really use a wish right now (**_**wish right now, wish right now**_**)  
Can we pretend that airplanes,  
In the night sky,  
Are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)**

Cloud hoped his wish would come true – ached with everything in him that it would – so he wouldn't be alone any longer. He would be with them again. Not a hero. Happy.

**Somebody take me back to the days,  
Before this was a job, before I got paid.  
Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank.**

A hero got no reward for services rendered; just being alive with your companions should suffice. A hero doesn't need payment; he fights for the betterment of all.

Cloud thought the betterment of all could go fuck itself. The granting of his wish would be his payment and if that happened, someone else would be a hero and he could finally fade into the background and enjoy the time he had left.

**I'm guessin' that if we can make some wishes outta airplanes,  
Then maybe yo maybe I'll go back to the days.**

He missed his companions. No longer did he receive voice messages on his phone, or have Tifa constantly bug him, Zack hug him, Aerith smile, Sephiroth tease him, Yuffie steal from him, Vincent listen to his problems, Cid gruffly inform him that he was an idiot or Reno call him a dumb blonde. It all ended on Shera.

**So here I stand and then again I say,**  
**I'm hopin' we can make some wishes outta airplanes.**

He wished on the memory of Shera falling from the sky, carrying all his friends with her to the harsh, unforgiving ground. The collision was an explosion of dust, metal and screams. As the dust settled, Cloud watched as hunger, all-consuming flames stole away from him the remains of Cid's ship and his past.

He wished desperately on the memory of him; sitting dumbly on Fenrir as the fire rose and cackled, licking at the ground and sky. He wished on the memory of picking through the rubble and finding no survivors. The memory of being alone in the rain that same night, while his world caved in around him.

**Can we pretend that airplanes,  
In the night sky,  
Are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now (**_**wish right now, wish right now**_**)**

Cloud wished one last time.

**Can we pretend that airplanes,  
In the night sky,  
Are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now (**_**wish right now, wish right now**_**)**

Cloud dreamed that the sky opened up for him with hands reaching down to him. He let himself be lifted towards them, smiling at the warmth that spread through him.

"You wished a thousand times for one thing. We welcome you, Cloud Strife. This is your reward."

Cloud saw the smiling faces of all his friends and those he loved with all his heart. It was all he needed, in life… and now in death. He smiled as each greeted him again and he came face to face with those who he longed for.

A person with regal bearing and hair that swished in the cool breeze turned to greet him last. Cool emerald regarded him and a hesitant smile adorned the lips that used to sneer and threaten him, and before then had often teased him and laughed with him.

Rain fell from the sky once again, as Gaia's hero was received into the Promised Land and Minerva smiled atop her throne.

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Yeah, this is a song fic but I wanted you to give it a chance before you clicked out of it. Please Review and tell me what you think.

Tawnyeyes10


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